Upgrade or Not

It's been five great years with my Lumia 925, and I would love another five but I need to be completely honest. It just may not last that long. I've been thinking of upgrading to another Windows phone, and I've been considering the Lumia 950. Android or iOS is not really one that I'm considering, although if I had to choose I'd go with Android.

Should I be considering another Windows phone over the Lumia 950? Should I even consider moving on to Android? I'd love to hear what your experiences have been, and I'm open to suggestions.

If size is not issue than you should get the L950 XL, if size is an issue get the L950.

However, personally I wouldn't pay more than £100 for the L950 and £120/130 for the L950 XL.

I got my L950 XL for £119 off ebay (plus £5 for delivery), it's got a slight chip at the top however I am using a case (£1 TPU gel case), a atfolix screen protector (£8.59 for a pack of 3 off amazon.co.uk) and a ukarbon debrand skin (£1) off Clove.co.uk (not recommended as the cut out accuracy is utterly crap) with all that you can hardly see the chip - So all in all I spent approx £134.

The msd card I am using is Samsung MB-MC128GA/AMZ 128 GB Class 10 U3 which is now £29 off Amazon. Since I am planning to use this msd card for my next phone or laptop or Surface Go I am not counting that towards the cost of the L950 XL.

However if you are willing to spend and the camera is not too much of deal breaker then get the Elite X3 (max I'd spend on that is £200 due to the app situation and lack of complete PWA support).

For me that is my fall back should I need to upgrade as the hardware ecosystem (is very appealing to my work flow especially the lapdock).

Given that you've been using the L925 all this time lol, I am going to presume you are not a heavy app user?

If size is not issue than you should get the L950 XL, if size is an issue get the L950.

However, personally I wouldn't pay more than £100 for the L950 and £120/130 for the L950 XL.

I got my L950 XL for £119 off ebay (plus £5 for delivery), it's got a slight chip at the top however I am using a case (£1 TPU gel case), a atfolix screen protector (£8.59 for a pack of 3 off amazon.co.uk) and a ukarbon debrand skin (£1) off Clove.co.uk (not recommended as the cut out accuracy is utterly crap) with all that you can hardly see the chip - So all in all I spent approx £134.

The msd card I am using is Samsung MB-MC128GA/AMZ 128 GB Class 10 U3 which is now £29 off Amazon. Since I am planning to use this msd card for my next phone or laptop or Surface Go I am not counting that towards the cost of the L950 XL.

However if you are willing to spend and the camera is not too much of deal breaker then get the Elite X3 (max I'd spend on that is £200 due to the app situation and lack of complete PWA support).

For me that is my fall back should I need to upgrade as the hardware ecosystem (is very appealing to my work flow especially the lapdock).

Given that you've been using the L925 all this time lol, I am going to presume you are not a heavy app user?

Thanks for your response. I appreciate it. I've actually thought about the Lumia 950XL, and although I think overall it's better than the Lumia 950 I think the screen size might be too big. I've been looking on both Amazon and eBay, and it seems that there are some pretty good deals for used models priced more or less at £93 which I think is a fair price.

The HP Elite X3 might be a bit outside my budget, but I still might consider it being that it was released earlier than the Lumia 950. But I have to agree that it's hard to beat the Lumia cameras.

You're absolutely right. I'm not a heavy app user :) and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Most of those tasks I prefer on my laptop anyway. Plus I'm not a big "social" person. I mainly use the phone to make calls, check email, news, and sports. There are some apps that at times I wish I could install, but it's definitely not a deal breaker.

I keep reading how Microsoft is going to end support for Windows mobile in December of 2019, so I'm not sure if it's smart to invest in the Lumia 950. I'd rather not jump ship to Android. What'd you think?

Thanks again for all of the information, and for the names of the accessories.

Thanks for your response. I appreciate it. I've actually thought about the Lumia 950XL, and although I think overall it's better than the Lumia 950 I think the screen size might be too big. I've been looking on both Amazon and eBay, and it seems that there are some pretty good deals for used models priced more or less at £93 which I think is a fair price.

It's a fair price, to provide some perspective the lowest a Lumia 930 goes for these days is £40 if you're lucky otherwise it's usually about £50. The first Lumia 930 I bought was about £80ish from Musicmagpie on ebay and the second one bought was about £50ish.

Originally Posted by qbenguy

The HP Elite X3 might be a bit outside my budget, but I still might consider it being that it was released earlier than the Lumia 950. But I have to agree that it's hard to beat the Lumia cameras.

Actually it's the other way round, L950 was released in 2015 and the elite x3 was released in 2016 .

Originally Posted by qbenguy

You're absolutely right. I'm not a heavy app user :) and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Most of those tasks I prefer on my laptop anyway. Plus I'm not a big "social" person. I mainly use the phone to make calls, check email, news, and sports. There are some apps that at times I wish I could install, but it's definitely not a deal breaker.

I figured as much lol, I used to use my laptop for almost everything until Microsoft botched the ACPI drivers with Windows 10. Now I use my desktop more although I still use my laptop for work, however strangely I prefer my desktop now... so much more breathing room haha.

Originally Posted by qbenguy

I keep reading how Microsoft is going to end support for Windows mobile in December of 2019, so I'm not sure if it's smart to invest in the Lumia 950. I'd rather not jump ship to Android. What'd you think?

Thanks again for all of the information, and for the names of the accessories.

To be honest, there will be cumulative updates for awhile yet as the main support cycle was to end this year Jan 2018 but it was extended. I feel and hope it will be extended again in terms of cumulative security patches. In terms of features, there won't be any anytime soon I reckon although they will have to provide a update to enable WPA3 at one point or another for the corporations that still are using WM10 through software assurance agreements - Corporations don't really upgrade that quickly...

The biggest hope most of us have is by Dec 2019 we may see the mythical andromeda device come onto the market. They would be absolutely foolish not to have a Windows based mobile device on the market that they can use to show case the power of microsoft pay, xcloud, uwp, pwa, Cortana and Azure. As they would be totally foregoing a massive chunk of users that they can get on board with xbox game pass and the enterprise with office 365.

In regards to L950, I've just gone through ebay and the cheapest buy it now option I see for the Lumia 950 is £40. I would say you can get one in decent quality but try to spend as little as possible on the phone.

In terms of continnum I'm not sure well the L950 will perform but you can get the HD-10 for £25 off amazon (prime delivery available) but it's about $58 bucks to ship to the US and that's not counting the import duties.

Going forward, I would say download the fitbit app and have it attached to your account so you can download it later from my library should the worst case scenario arise and it's also removed from the store.

The reason I suggest this is because of fitbit pay (the easiest way to set it up is the wallet section of the fitbit app supported on phone, hub even hololens), Microsoft Pay is only in the US and the only way anyone is going to get mobile payments using WM10 outside the US is with something like Fitbit pay. Sure, that involves getting a fitbit (there is a US only blackfriday sale on Fitbit's website lol) but right now there aren't many options in that regard let alone health tracking / smart watch as the Vector smartwatch start up and Pebble have been acquired by Fitbit.

Garmin pay maybe an option but there is no Windows app from Garmin and same goes for Samsung pay. The other reason is due to popularity of Fitbit - we are more likely to see more retailers + banks support Fitbit pay. Therefore as I said not many options... when comes to the whole package - smartwatch, health tracking and mobile payments.

So it will have to be something like Fitbit pay until Microsoft gets their act together and enables us to use Microsoft Pay outside the US but I'm not holding my breath.

It's a fair price, to provide some perspective the lowest a Lumia 930 goes for these days is £40 if you're lucky otherwise it's usually about £50. The first Lumia 930 I bought was about £80ish from Musicmagpie on ebay and the second one bought was about £50ish.

Actually it's the other way round, L950 was released in 2015 and the elite x3 was released in 2016 .

I figured as much lol, I used to use my laptop for almost everything until Microsoft botched the ACPI drivers with Windows 10. Now I use my desktop more although I still use my laptop for work, however strangely I prefer my desktop now... so much more breathing room haha.

To be honest, there will be cumulative updates for awhile yet as the main support cycle was to end this year Jan 2018 but it was extended. I feel and hope it will be extended again in terms of cumulative security patches. In terms of features, there won't be any anytime soon I reckon although they will have to provide a update to enable WPA3 at one point or another for the corporations that still are using WM10 through software assurance agreements - Corporations don't really upgrade that quickly...

The biggest hope most of us have is by Dec 2019 we may see the mythical andromeda device come onto the market. They would be absolutely foolish not to have a Windows based mobile device on the market that they can use to show case the power of microsoft pay, xcloud, uwp, pwa, Cortana and Azure. As they would be totally foregoing a massive chunk of users that they can get on board with xbox game pass and the enterprise with office 365.

In regards to L950, I've just gone through ebay and the cheapest buy it now option I see for the Lumia 950 is £40. I would say you can get one in decent quality but try to spend as little as possible on the phone.

In terms of continnum I'm not sure well the L950 will perform but you can get the HD-10 for £25 off amazon (prime delivery available) but it's about $58 bucks to ship to the US and that's not counting the import duties.

Going forward, I would say download the fitbit app and have it attached to your account so you can download it later from my library should the worst case scenario arise and it's also removed from the store.

The reason I suggest this is because of fitbit pay (the easiest way to set it up is the wallet section of the fitbit app supported on phone, hub even hololens), Microsoft Pay is only in the US and the only way anyone is going to get mobile payments using WM10 outside the US is with something like Fitbit pay. Sure, that involves getting a fitbit (there is a US only blackfriday sale on Fitbit's website lol) but right now there aren't many options in that regard let alone health tracking / smart watch as the Vector smartwatch start up and Pebble have been acquired by Fitbit.

Garmin pay maybe an option but there is no Windows app from Garmin and same goes for Samsung pay. The other reason is due to popularity of Fitbit - we are more likely to see more retailers + banks support Fitbit pay. Therefore as I said not many options... when comes to the whole package - smartwatch, health tracking and mobile payments.

So it will have to be something like Fitbit pay until Microsoft gets their act together and enables us to use Microsoft Pay outside the US but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I appreciate it. There is a brand new sealed in box Lumia 950 on eBay that is selling for $155.99 with free shipping. I'd prefer to pay less. What'd you think about that price? I'm also still interested in the Essential phone, especially since I'm concerned about support for Windows phones ending in December 2019.

I'm not thrilled about the possibility of switching over to Android, but it seems like the transitions for others has been okay. I will still have my Windows phone, and if I end up switching to Android I'll try to customize the experience as much as possible.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I appreciate it. There is a brand new sealed in box Lumia 950 on eBay that is selling for $155.99 with free shipping. I'd prefer to pay less. What'd you think about that price? I'm also still interested in the Essential phone, especially since I'm concerned about support for Windows phones ending in December 2019.

I'm not thrilled about the possibility of switching over to Android, but it seems like the transitions for others has been okay. I will still have my Windows phone, and if I end up switching to Android I'll try to customize the experience as much as possible.

You're most welcome.

Is there a make offer option?

Also is it dual sim?

I would say check where it's being shipped from as some are shipped from Hong Kong or the UK, so you may have to pay some customs levies.

I've just checked through the ebay.com and I've seen a few listed for $90 at buy it now - these are obviously used. I've sent you a PM of two listings for the L950, which you may be an option if you are considering a L950 at $155.

If you do end up switching to Android, there are few articles on Windows Central in regards to that switch.

I would say check where it's being shipped from as some are shipped from Hong Kong or the UK, so you may have to pay some customs levies.

I've just checked through the ebay.com and I've seen a few listed for $90 at buy it now - these are obviously used. I've sent you a PM of two listings for the L950, which you may be an option if you are considering a L950 at $155.

If you do end up switching to Android, there are few articles on Windows Central in regards to that switch.

At the end of the day, it's your call use what works best for you.

Thank you for the PM I appreciate it, and responded. Please let me know when you can if you received it. Thanks!